I finally replaced the dimmer switch in my living room with a traditional on/off switch yesterday.
After I had installed my new receiver and was able to connect my DVD player to it by HDMI, I would get an odd buzzing after stopping a disc. Last week I happened to turn off the light while it was still buzzing and it stopped.
Previously I had to find a better quality light bulb to keep the filament from "singing". The light is actually in a ceiling fan. It was kind of cool being able to control the speed of the fan from the wall. But in these summer months I want the fan on max, but the light dim which watching a movie. I thought it was just the electric motor in the fan causing the globe to vibrate sometimes, because it would even happen when the dimmer was set to max. Now that I just read how dimmer switches actually work, even at max, they still are relying on a capacitor to charge before starting into the AC sine wave. So there's still a hard edge.
So I replaced the switch (only shocked myself twice). The buzzing is gone from the DVD player. I was able to use one of my favored Blue Max CFLs (14W, which is a good compromise between room visibility and overhead glare). And the big surprise, it wasn't the fan motor, its totally smooth and silent now other than the blades whipping through the air (faster than before too).
I'm so happy, I wish I had done this years ago.
